The New York City Department of Correction is temporarily pulling its body cameras out of service after one of the gadgets caught fire on Rikers Island earlier this week, a department spokesperson told the Daily News Friday.
The body camera began emitting fumes inside a control room at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Dec. 4. The device was not being worn when it ignited and no injuries resulted due to the malfunction.
The department had planned on retiring its older-model body cameras and replacing them with more modern devices by the end of the year, the DOC spokesperson said.
The malfunction spurred officials to accelerate the planned upgrade by several weeks in order to safeguard officers.
“The safety of our staff and people in our care are first and foremost, which is why we are replacing all the existing devices for new, upgraded cameras,” said DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie.
This is the second time this year that DOC has suspended use of body cameras at city jails in response to a device spontaneously combusting.
A captain was injured after her Reveal Media D5 body-worn camera suddenly ignited at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island on May 3, spurring officials to temporarily pull all 3,500 body cameras then in service.
Medics brought the captain to Mt. Sinai Hospital where she was treated for smoke inhalation and released.
The May incident was the first malfunction of that type the department had recorded since DOC began using body-worn cameras in 2015, a spokeswoman told the Daily News at the time. All uniformed officers wear the cameras.
The NYPD pulled 2,000 Axon AB2 body-worn cameras offline for inspection in 2021 after a cop at the 34th Precinct in Inwood, Manhattan, noticed smoke coming out of one, police said. The cop removed it and it “ignited,” according to a memo released at the time.
Originally Published:
